Roof ventilator



Jan. 13, 1959 H. KNuTsoN ETAL 2,868,106

ROOF VENTILATOR f mijn INVENToRs; HAROLD /m/Urso/v HROL (i K/VUTSQ/VArr'r United States Patent ROOF VENTILATOR Harold Knutson and Harold G.Knutson, Chicago, Ill.

Application December 9, 1954, Serial No. 474,068

6 Claims. (Cl. 98-43) This invention relates in general to a roofventilator and is more particularly described as a power ventilator forroofs and the like, in which means for inducing the ventilation issupported below and within the sill or curbing upon which the ventilatorstructure is mounted so that the ventilator structure projects to aminimum height above the mounting curb and therefore presents a neat,unobtrusive and easily concealed appearance when mounted upon an actualor the usual type of commercial building structures.

The usual roof ventilator for this type of surface comprises either acumbersome upwardly and outwardly projecting structure in which thepower means is also mounted so that the overall height of the ventilatorand the power means becomes objectionable, or else the power means issupportedly mounted below the curb or support for the ventilator itselfso that the parts are not connected for installation or to facilitateaccess to the power mechanism from the top or upper part of theventilator.

The present invention overcomes these objections by providing arelatively low and compact ventilator structure adapted to be mountedupona curb which also supports the power mechanism in a convenientlocation just below and within the curb where none of the Ventilatingspace is obstructed by it.

An important object of the invention is to provide a roof ventilatorwhich has a power mechanism therefor, both mounted upon the same curbwith the power mechanism depending and the Ventilator structureextending upwardly from the curb and thus providing a low lyingventilator structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power ventilator inwhich the ventilator structure is prefabricated of sheet metal andassembled and applied to a supporting curb, with ventilator louvers atall sides thereof, and with a removable flat cover which extendspartially over the inner edges of all of the louvered sides.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a power ventilatorin which the power mechanism is supported by a structure which dependsfrom edge flanges adapted to be supported by the same curb whichsupports the louvered ventilator overlappingly engaged therewith.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the speciication and willbe apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the upper and outer ventilator structurewhich is visible at the top of a roof to which this power ventilator isapplied.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of thestructure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through one side of the ventilator and powermechanism support.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view as taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of one corner as taken on the line 5--5 ofFig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a cover lock as taken on the line 6 6 ofFig. l.

In providing for ventilators in a roof, a sill or curb 10 is usuallyprovided surrounding an opening through a roof 12 which has a similarinner opening 14 of the same size as that of the curb. The top of thecurb is preferably made flat to more easily mount a ventilator structurethereon and also to provide for the engagement of the flange 16 whichextends outwardly from a vertical plate 18 at each side ofthe'ventilator. These sides are connected together about their innerperiphery and below their tops by angle bar rails 20 which stiffen thestructure and provide a support at opposite sides for a transversesupporting plate 22 upon which an upright electric motor 24 is mountednear one end of the support with bearing blocks 26 and 28, near thecenter of the support.

Between the lower edge of the transverse support 22 and the rails 20which support it, at each end is a cushioning layer 30 of rubber orsimilar material to minimize the vibration and noise when the fan itrotated. In these bearing blocks, a shaft 32 is mounted having a pulley34 at its upper end connected by a belt 36 with a driving pulley at theupper end of the motor.

On the lower end of the shaft 32 below the bearing block 26, a fan 40 ismounted having blades 42 of such a length that they may be freelyrotated inside of a sheet metal ring 43 having a circular opening withan inner ange 45 slightly wider than the fan blades to reducebackpressure and backwash from the propeller. The lower edges of theside plates 18 are substantially ush with the lower edge of the roof 12to present a neat and nished appearance at the inside. The ventilatorstructure is connected to the top of the power supporting structure ateach side thereof by a base flange 44 which rests upon the llange 16 andhas an upturned inner edge 46 and a downwardly turned outer edge 48terminating in an outwardly inclined `deilector S0 at the lower edgethereof. At the ends of each base ange 44, and extending upwardly areend plates 52 each having an inwardly turned flange v54 and an outwardlyturned ilange 56. At the top of each section is a top plate 58 having anouter downwardly turned flange 60 and an inner upwardly turned llange62. Between the end plates 52 are a plurality of louvers 64 inclinedfrom the inside outwardly and each having an acutely bent ange 66 at itsupper end and a lower flange 68 flush with the outer edge of the louversection, excepting the lower louver in which a-flange 70 is also bentacutely inward and secured to the base plate 44.

In assembling all of the composite parts of each ventilator side sectionthus provided, the plates forming the parts, usually of thin sheet metalare welded, soldered or otherwise secured together in any suitable wellknown manner.

At the connecting corners between the sections, the anges 56 extend atright angles so that it is necessary only to insert an upright cornerplate 72 between the outwardly extending flanges 56. This corner plateis commonly provided with angular ilanges 74 which extend at the insidesof the flanges 56 abutting the end plates 52 to which they may besecured.

For the top of the structure thus joined by the corner plate 72, the topplates 58 form a close marginal rim with an inner upwardly extendingflange 62.

At one side or two adjacent sides, an offset strip 76 is attached to thetop plate to provide an undercut portion opening from the inside. Acover 78 of a size to slightly overlap the rim 62 and having a centralupwardly inclined crown 80 is also formed with a depending flange 82which raises the cover up above the top of the anges 62 and one edge ortwo adjacent edges are provided with outwardly extending flanges 84 atthe lower edge of the corresponding depending flanges 82 so that theflanged edges 84 of the cover maybe inserted in the open edge of thestrip or strips 76 to firmly attach these portions of the cover inplace.

At the opposite edge of the coveias shown more clearly in Fig. 6, alocking strip 86 is attached to one depending projecting flange 82 andprojects beyond the corner and flanges 84 of the cover to register `witha locking clip 88, the end of the strip and the clip havingcorresponding openings through which a hasp 90 of a padlock 92 may beinserted for locking the cover downwardly in place.

With this construction, it will be apparent that the sides of theventilator and the sides of the connecting parts of the power supportingmeans may be produced and partially erected separately, and at adistance from the place where they are to be erected and applied or theparts may be entirely assembled and shipped and applied as a completeunit. The ventilator overlaps the upper flange portion of the support atthe marginal edge thereof and these parts may be permanently connectedtogether at the factory where the ventilator is made or the parts may beassembled and connected together in interengaging relation when appliedto a roof.

Access to the power mechanism may be easily attained by removing thecover 78 and if the entire power unit is to be removed, the ventilatorunit may be lifted from its engagement with the power unit flange, if ithas not been permanently connected and then the power unit may beremoved or repaired as desired.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in somedetail, it should be regarded as an illustration or example rather thanas a limitation or restriction of the invention, since various changesin the construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a louvered ventilator structure a power driven fan and supportingmeans therefor comprising side plates connected together to form arectangular structure with upper outwardly projecting flanges, aventilator housing comprising a corresponding number of sides withlouvered units for each side of the ventilator and carried by theflanges of said side plates, corner post connections between the ends ofadjacent louvered units also carried by the flanges, a cover extendingover the top of all of the connected units, means for securing the coverin place on the tops of and overlapping the edges of the inner sides ofthe units, the cover having downwardly turned sides with outwardlyturned flanges at the lower edges, and offset strips attached to one ormore of the said tops beneath which corresponding flanges of the coverare engaged to hold the cover in place.

2. In a roof ventilator structure, in accordance with claim l, lockingmeans comprising a strip attached to a downwardly turned side of thecover and a locking clip attached to one of said tops at a side of theventilator structure opposite the engagement of the cover with theflange strip, and the locking strip and clip having regis- 4 teringopenings through which a fastening lock may be inserted.

3. In a ventilator for a roof having a rectangular opening with a curbat the edges of the opening, supporting means comprising platesdepending at the edges of the opening, each having a top flangeoverlapping the curb, a power driven fan supported by the plates withinthe opening, a louvered ventilator enclosure comprising louver sectionsextending over the top of the opening having a base engaging the topflanges on top of the curb and each side of the enclosure having abottom plate with an outward depending ilange to engage the outsidevertical edge of the supporting curb, positioning the enclosure on thecurb and directly upon the flanges of the plates, the fan having amotor, and a supporting plate extending transversely of the oppositesupporting means plates to mount the fan centrally of the opening andbelow the tops of the said top flanges, and the ventilator enclosurehaving a cover, hollow corner posts to support the cover and the louversections extending above the outwardly flanged base and between thecorner posts with louvers in each section being inclined downwardly atthe outside thereof.

4. In a roof ventilator in accordance with claim 3, the said supportingmeans including a transverse upright plate extending centrally andconnected to opposite supporting plates and the upright plate carryingspaced bearing blocks, a shaft mounted in said bearing blocks centrallyin the opening of the supporting means, the

fan secured to the shaft, and a motor also connected to the said uprightplate and connected to the shaft for rotating it.

5. In a roof ventilator in accordance with claim 3, in which eachsection of the ventilator enclosure has end plates each forming aportion of the corner post with an inwardly turned flange at' theinsides of the ends of the louvers and an outwardly turned flange at theoutsides of the louvers, the end plates forming the adjacent inner sidesof a corner post, and an outer angular plate secured to the saidoutwardly turned flanges to form the two outer sides of a corner post.

6. In a roof ventilator in accordance with claim 5, the corner postsconnecting the ventilator louvers together and forming a side enclosingstructure, a top plate for each side section extending over the tops ofthe corner posts, the top plate having a downwardly turned flange at theouter side of each louver section, and an upwardly extending flange atthe inner side of each unit and the cover having a downwardly turnedflange at its marginal edge for seating it on the top plates andoverlapping the said inner flanges at the tops' of the louver sections.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 292,486Hayes Jan. 29, 1884l 1,254,517 Lumm Ian. 22, 1918 2,218,348 Boyer Oct.15, 1950 2,540,091 Brackney Feb. 6, 1951 2,595,370 Rygard May 6, 19522,668,491 Gerlitz Feb. 9, 1954

